Magic
by DNAisUnique
Summary: Post-ep for 'A Night at the Bones Museum.' “Sweetie, even from the balcony, I could tell you two were having eye sex."


**Thank you SO much for all the reviews/favorites/alerts for 'Just a Phase.' The response was far beyond anything I could have imagined. Just…thanks. The following takes place after "A Night at the Bones Museum." Enjoy!**

**VVVVV**

Booth ushered Brennan--hand on the small of her back--up the stairs to the main level of the museum. A tiny smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he thought about the simple gesture. If anyone ever commented on it, he would tell them he was just being polite, that it was the partnerly thing to do. He had to tell himself that occasionally, though he was to the point where even he didn't believe it. Any kind of physical closeness between them--not necessarily contact, though it wasn't unwelcome--was an act of territory marking. She was his as much as he was hers, but he'd never say that to her.

His mind wandered to their 'egg conversation' in her office. Yes, he was hurt that she'd told _Andrew_--Booth couldn't help the sarcastic reference to his boss, even in his thoughts--about his dislike of meatloaf with eggs, but he was even more hurt that Brennan and _Andrew _had been on their date at one of his and Brennan's restaurants. And why did his coworkers always come to him wanting advice about dating Brennan? Furthermore, why did he give it?

"…Booth?"

"What? Oh, sorry, Bones."

"Are you okay?" she questioned curiously.

"Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I be okay?" he asked, tugging at his bowtie.

"I already fixed it, Booth. Quit messing with it," Brennan reprimanded, lightly slapping his hand away from his bowtie. She straightened it once again, her head tilted ever-so-slightly as she admired her work--and possibly him.

Booth gazed at her and leaned into her touch, vowing silently that if she'd keep fixing his tie, he'd keep messing with it for the rest of the night. He might even find a reason to wear it on a daily basis.

The contact lasted longer than was appropriate for a social function, especially between _partners_, and Brennan finally cleared her throat, embarrassed that she'd let herself get caught up in the moment. "Could you…Could you get us something to drink, Booth?" she stammered. "I'll hold our places so we can hear the Ambassador," she finished lamely, averting her gaze.

"Yeah, sure. Anything in particular?"

"I'll have whatever you're having."

Booth nodded then went in search of the requested refreshment.

"Hey, Sweetie," Angela said as she joined Brennan, "not that I'm complaining, but wasn't Andrew supposed to come with you tonight?"

"He was, but after proper consideration on my part, I realized Booth was the better candidate for the evening."

"You dumped Andrew for Booth?" Angela said with a grin.

"No, I discussed it with Andrew, and I told him that since the case was Booth's, I thought it best that Booth see it through to the end."

"Uh-huh," Angela replied, not believing a word Brennan said. "And the fact that Booth is utterly scrumptious in a tuxedo has nothing to do with it."

"Of course not!" Brennan exclaimed, scanning the crowd.

Angela laughed. "See what you did there, Bren? You're looking for Booth. I noticed you didn't deny the scrumptious part, though."

"Ange…"

"Sorry," Angela said, holding up her hands in surrender. "Still celibate, remember?"

"Yes, you remind me at even the smallest hint of anything sexual."

"What can I say? Sex is like a drug, and I am its willing addict. Speaking of, I know I interrupted something between you and Booth."

"It was nothing."

"Sweetie, even from the balcony, I could tell you two were having eye sex. Not to mention that thing that just happened before you sent him to get drinks. That was totally hot. There's no sense in denying it, Bren," she added quickly before Brennan could stop her. "You know, now that I think of it, those Ancient Egyptians artifacts are pretty magical."

"They're objects, Angela. Artifacts don't have powers, and there's no such thing as magic."

"I don't know," Angela said with a smile. "Hodgins and I used to use the Egyptian artifact room for extracurricular activities. I'm pretty sure there was magic. And Daisy just admitted that she and Sweets made up while in the presence of said artifacts. Did you know she calls him 'Lance-a-lot?'"

Brennan scrunched up her face and was prepared to respond just as Booth returned with their drinks.

"Here ya go, Bones," he said as he handed her a glass of slushy, red liquid. "All they had was punch. Do you want mine, Angela? I didn't know you were talking to Bones."

"No, Booth, it's fine," Angela grinned.

"What?"

"Angela was just saying she thinks the Egyptian artifacts are magic, even though that's absurd because magic is nothing more than clever misdirection. It's not real."

"Actually, I apologized for interrupting the two of you downstairs. Then I said that the Egyptian artifact room had been quite good to Hodgins and me, as well as Sweets and Daisy."

"Good?" Booth asked.

"The four of them had sex in there," Brennan supplied.

"Well, not all four of us together," Angela told him.

"Yeah, those are mental pictures I could've lived without," Booth said.

"My only point was that Egyptians put eternal curses on things, so who's to say they didn't also have eternal love spells?"

"Neither one exist, Angela, so I don't know why we're still talking about this," Brennan said, taking a sip of the punch.

"Well, in any case, I'm glad you're Bren's date tonight, Booth," she told him with a wink.

"Yeah," Booth replied, noncommittally.

Brennan glanced at Booth and sighed. "Hold this," she told him, handing him the glass of punch. She straightened his bowtie for the third time and smirked. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were messing up your bowtie on purpose, Booth."

"I wouldn't dream of such a thing, Bones. It must be magic."

**VVVVV**

**Thanks for reading!**


End file.
